The drizzle didn't last long, so Su WuLi was able to start his work without much hassle.
Su Jian might be ignorant about history, but he had learned how to work in the fields from his grandfather. It was just the two of them in their family, and they didn't have much money, so Su Jian knew what it was like to work day and night without a break.
Su WuLi original didn't have much family either, however, he still had a couple of distant cousins who helped him pick the crops, otherwise Su Jian was sure that this despicable man would have forced Li Huan to drop out of school.
Although working under the sun was hard and tiring, it brought back pleasant memories of his childhood and allowed him to think about necessary matters. For example, he was able to concluded that, in order to get Li Yan to accept his love, he should become obvious and, if necessary, 'get physical'.
He had once before confessed his feelings to Li Yan, and that had resulted in great humiliation, as he recalled. But the years passed and it was time to try a second time, the worst that could happen was that his divorce would come soon.
Or that he would be humiliated again, after all, Li Yan was not as sincere as he seemed. That was an idea that was etched in Su Jian's mind.
As he plowed the land, with the midday sun on his back, Su Jian thought he should go to the Jiang Shui temple with his family; faith in the gods was part of the ancient times, and the people of the county might find it strange that Li BaoGui and he did not partake of it.
From one moment to the next, his cousins saw him swing the hoe with a stupid grin. They didn't understand, they didn't know how much that single thought meant to Su Jian.
[I must go to Jiang Shui Temple with my family. With my husband and my son.
Those words were always a dream for him as a child.]
"I must go to Jiang Shui Temple with my family!" he exclaimed without realizing it.
One of his cousins, who had as bad a temper as the original Su WuLi, replied:
"Is it my fault?"
"You'd better shut up, and work. Talking doesn't cook rice." said his other cousin.
Even when he was scolded and treated that way, Su WuLi did not respond or complain; he worked even faster with the idea of walking the streets with his husband and son. That was weird for his cousins too, but they took it as if he had finally gone mad.
That single thought in his mind and heart made the hours pass quickly for Su Jian, and, after finishing plowing, it was time to go home. Without thinking too much, he left his cousins behind without saying goodbye.
That day, all the neighbors saw Su WuLi running back to the Li residence at monkey hour.
Su Jian was not satisfied until he went through the opening in the wall, and into the courtyard where he lived with Li Yan. His son's laughter and the bleating of a goat were the only sound. At first, Su Jian planned to take BaiBai back that day, but Li Huan was very happy with it and decided to leave it in his courtyard for a while.
Li BaoGui was sitting outside the kitchen, embroidering what appeared to be a handkerchief, while his son ran in circles along with the uncouth animal.
Li Huan was the first to notice his father's arrival:
"Yifu!"
His exclamation made Li BaoGui raise his head, the smile on his face was genuine and bright. Li Huan approached his father with great excitement.
"Yimu is preparing qiutang." Li Huan imitated a thicker voice and recited. "Drink the soup to cleanse the liver and intestines, so the whole family will be safe and healthy. So said laoye."
Su WuLi walked with the boy to the entrance of the kitchen, where Li BaoGui was still sitting.
"The old man is wise, it's good that you listen to what he says." Su Jian patted his son's head. Then he looked at his nemesis-husband.
"Welcome home." Li Yan was a hopeless otaku, so it was not surprising to hear him say that in Japanese.
Li Huan did not understand, however, Su Jian smiled as he sighed.
He loves the house and his crow.
BaiBai didn't want to be left out, so it stood behind Su WuLi and chewed the corner of his muddy robes.
"Are you too tired? There is something I must ask you." Li BaoGui ceased his embroidery.
"I will do anything for you." Su Jian tried to sound as sweet as possible, but Li Yan's mind was sometimes like stone.
"We need firewood. I'm too soft for this job, and I don't think my parents would be willing to share their cut firewood with me."
Chopping firewood was something the Li family's servants did, and then they were responsible for delivering a share to each courtyard. Except for Li BaoGui's.
Li Huan helped his father carry some logs from the woodshed to the courtyard and, on Su WuLi's orders, walked away until he stood next to his 'mother'.
Due to the field work, Su WuLi's robes were covered with splashes of mud and sweat, which made having them on become uncomfortable. Taking advantage of the fact that the weather was still stable in the afternoon, Su Jian loosened the top of his robes and let them hang around his waist.
The body was shaped by the original owner's hard work, and Su Jian considered that Su WuLi could have been a model in the modern era. After all, there were people who liked the 'bad boy' look. He was better molded than Su Jian was in his original life, with perfectly fair muscles for his body.
He positioned the axe and began his task, chopping trunk by trunk. The muscles in his arms and back stretched with each movement, and glistened covered with sweat under the remaining rays of the sun.
Li Yan's mouth watered. He felt that the twenty-two years lived in his original world were garbage, wasted time he could have spent lying on those abs. How could the original Li BaoGui have lived through two years of marriage without touching them, without seeing them?
Li Yan wanted to put his hands there, wanted to sleep there, wanted to kiss them. He wanted to see those abs between his legs! Even his belly tingled, his other mouth also watered.
He had a calm appearance and a pure look, but Li Yan was very different from Li BaoGui in one respect; he was a virgin with a lot of libido. And he was certainly a master at hiding his fervent heat from the people around him. However, he now had a problem.
With Li BaoGui's memories, Li Yan was able to get an idea of how a fertile man's body worked. His conclusion was: It's not very complicated, it's not very comfortable either. But wetting my inner robes...
He didn't want to wet his robes, no one in the world would want that. He had to concentrate on something else and look away, he couldn't look anymore at how Su WuLi's arms were flexing and his back....
"Yimu, yimu." Li Huan lightly tugged Li BaoGui's sleeves. "Is the qiutang ready?"
"I-I'll go see." Taking the opportunity, Li BaoGui walked into the kitchen.
It was not a very good idea indeed. The fire burning in his mind as dirty as the bottom of a pot, turned the heat of the old-fashioned stove into an overwhelming inferno.
Going from cold to hot was not going to be good for his health, plus he had no way to fix it.
He tried to put all his mind to serving the food and bringing it to the table and it worked, at least until Su WuLi finished with his task and entered the kitchen together with Li Huan. They had both arranged the firewood in its place, and washed their hands, but Su WuLi was still not wearing his robes properly.
Li BaoGui kept his gaze on the ground, he didn't want to look at him again and at the same time he wanted to see him for the rest of his life. That way he was going to be unable to eat.
"It's winter, you should... Cover up properly." he said while pretending to be calm.
"I'll dress properly after I take a bath." Su Jian was happy that his beloved-enemy cared about him so, seeking thanks and reassurance, he opened his ugly mouth. "Don't meddle in my affairs."
Li Yan, as usual, was immune to those words. And Li Huan was already eating and had excluded himself from any conversation on his own.
Su WuLi sat down at the table and waited for Li BaoGui to sit down, which did not happen.
Su WuLi turned to look at him, and Li BaoGui covered his face as if the sun's rays had been cast upon his eyes. Those abs were tempting him too much, he should beat a retreat!
"I... I'm going to prepare clothes and a hot bath for you." He excused himself.
"No need, you should eat first. You're not healed yet and skipping meals would be dangerous."
"I'll eat later, enjoy your meal!" He simply ran off, giving up any chance to be 'subtle'.
Su WuLi was indeed confused, and looked at his son, but Li Huan knew even less than he did.
Since he couldn't take a cold shower, Li Yan really needed a good time to calm down. He left the hot water in the bathtub behind the screen in his bedroom, which he was supposed to share with Su WuLi, and went to fetch him some clean robes.
When he returned to the room he could notice the dirty clothes hanging on the wooden screen, and saw the silhouette of his husband-enemy by the candlelight. Night had already fallen and the lighting was barely adequate, Li Yan couldn't help but remember how many 'happy' movies started that way.
He cleared his throat to alert his presence, and picked up the dirty clothes to replace them with the ones he had just brought Su WuLi.
"It took me a while to realize that you had prepared this tub, I was originally waiting in the bedroom I use." Su Jian's voice suddenly rang out, making Li Yan embarrassed. "Anyway... Thank you."
In his normal, modern world, Li Yan used to leave his dirty clothes piled up on a chair, and now, in the absence of the chair, he got a large basket to put all the dirty clothes in and wait for Hua Zhang to come get it.
"That's what a wife should do." Distracted by the situation, he let that out of his mouth without realizing it.
An awkward atmosphere took over the bedroom, neither of them was willing to talk about it yet. Mainly because they were stupid and blind.
In the end, it was Su WuLi who broke the silence.
"I'm taking Li Huan to Jiang Shui Temple early tomorrow morning. And I was wondering if you would like to go too. Since she is 'the lady of good harvests', the peasants will visit the temple at times like this. "
"I feel that I have improved, so it will be fine if I go."
"It's the local deity, as long as they see us in her temple, they will still think we are normal." Su WuLi concluded. The conversation ended there again, and a heavy silence ensued once more.
Li BaoGui quietly took off his outer robes, hung them in the right place, and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Tomorrow I will make tangyuan. Although the original Su WuLi's property is small, it must still need a lot of work, so you can take tangyuan when we return from the temple and put it among the field."
"Sounds good." Su Jian got up from the bathtub, Li Yan could see him through his silhouette on the screen.
The bedroom was large, after all, it was supposed to be for the married couple, but Li BaoGui was the only one sleeping there on his own. He couldn't deny that he wanted to have Su Jian sleeping next to him, in fact, he had already decided that he wanted to get Su Jian to sleep next to him that night.
That could be a first step to improving their relationship, and maybe he would be confident enough to ask him: why did you ignore my confession in high school?
"It's been cold lately..." Li BaoGui wanted to be subtle.
"I'll bring another thick quilt for you." Su WuLi didn't take the hint.
"I don't think it's enough for me."
"I'll also burn more coal then."
Seeing Su WuLi finish dressing, Li Yan pouted as he felt frustrated.
"I feel lonely." He decided to be more obvious.
"As I remember, you used to have quite a few stuffed animals in your bed since you were a kid, why don't you hug a pillow?"
"It's easier to get warmth if you sleep next to a person." Li Yan was beginning to get irritated.
"I'll tell Huan'er, he can surely keep you company."
Li BaoGui felt like he was beating on a mass of absorbent cotton. He wasn't going to get anywhere if he kept it up. Su WuLi stepped out from behind the wooden screen, ready to leave, when he heard his husband-enemy grumbling in mumbles.
Under the candlelight he couldn't see much, still, his eyes fixed first on the face that had captivated him for so many years. Li BaoGui had a strange expression, with furrowed brows and puffed cheeks, he looked like a spoiled child on the verge of tears.
"Li Yan..."
Everything about that image brought back ancient memories, and his heart pounded with Li Yan's next words:
"I want you to sleep with me, why don't you sleep with me?"
'Su-ge, I want you to sleep with me, why don't you sleep with me?'
• • • • • • • • • • •
1. Monkey time.
Between 3 and 5 in the afternoon.
2. Qiutang.
Autumn soup. It is a soup made with qiucai, wild amaranth, and fish.
3. Tangyuan.
It is a sticky dessert popular during qiufen. It is made with glutinous rice, it was believed that by putting some of them in the fields, it could help to stick the beaks of sparrows, and thus prevent them from eating the crops.